Using Subjective and Objective Measures of Social Class in College Student Research

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session Six
  In Roundtable Session: Measuring Student Outcomes and Institutional Practice (Table 8)

Abstract

College students’ social class is frequently assessed in higher education research, but studies overwhelmingly use objective measures such as first-generation status or Pell eligibility. The present study answers calls for more contextualized assessments by including a subjective measure of students’ perceived social class, along with multiple objective measures of social class. Relative to the objective measures, the subjective measure exhibits smaller correlations with other precollege attributes, and it has stronger relationships with students’ first-year psychosocial outcomes. Thus, this subjective measure appears to assess important aspects of social class that extend beyond objective measures and that may be related to student success, thereby yielding important directions for future research and assessment.

Authors

• Genia M. Bettencourt, University of Memphis
  Non-Presenting Author

• Nicholas A. Bowman, University of Iowa
  Presenting Author

• Shinji Katsumoto, University of Iowa
  Non-Presenting Author

• Joseph Kitchen, University of Southern California
  Non-Presenting Author

• Lauren N. Irwin, University of Tennessee
  Non-Presenting Author